"Once Our Foe:" The Grave of Jean de Narde, Dereham

In the churchyard of St Nicholas, Dereham - the same churchyard in which St. Walstan's Well can be found (as detailed in an October 2012 entry), lies a memorial for a French soldier called Jean de Narde. The imposing-looking bell tower of St Nicholas actually stands apart from the church proper - apparently the actual church tower is not strong enough to hold the bells, making this separate structure necessary.

Supposedly dating from around the early sixteenth century, in the late 1700s the bell tower had something of a different use - that of a holding prison for French prisoners of the Napoleonic wars. On October 6th 1799, one of these prisoners managed to escape the tower, only to be shot, and killed, by a guard. He was buried in the churchyard.

The memorial was erected in tribute to de Narde in 1858, and includes a line I found particularly moving when I read it: "Once our foes but now our allies and brethren."

"Deserving of Imitation:" The John Fox Memorial Stone, Colney St Andrew's

At St Andrew's Church, Colney, above the porch door, is an intriguing memorial stone that illustrates the church's historical location on a main (ie traffic-heavy) thoroughfare into Norwich. The stone reads:

"Sacred To the Memory of JOHN FOX who on the 20th of Dec 1806 in the 79th Year of his Age was unfortunately kill'd near this spot having been thrust down & trampled on by the Horses of a Waggon Tho his Life was humble yet it is deserving of imitation He was a worthy & useful Member of Society an honest & industrious Labourer READER If thou drivest a team be careful & endanger not the Life of another or thine own"

Nearly two hundred years later, a near-namesake of the deceased, John Foxx, would record several songs - 'Crash,' 'Crash and Burn,' others - heavily influenced by the Ballardian fascination with the traffic accident. No real connection, of course, but still.